Industry faces looming talent shortage

Five years ago, experts called the coming shortage of trained aviation professionals “the greatest threat to aviation safety,” but then the recession struck. “So the problem kind of went away for a while,” said Sheryl Barden, president of Aviation Personnel International, in a session at the recent National Business Aviation Association convention. “Many people still say, ‘Will it ever really come to pass?’” “It will” was the consensus of a panel of flight department leaders and aviation educators at the session titled “Addressing the Declining Aviation Talent Pool,” but only with support from the industry, according to this report at NBAA.org.